'Vista Capable' lawsuit against Microsoft now a class action

In a blow to Microsoft Corp., a federal judge granted class-action status to a lawsuit late Friday alleging that Microsoft unjustly enriched itself by promoting PCs as "Windows Vista Capable" even when they could only run a bare-bones version of the operating system, called "Vista Home Basic."

The slogan was emblazoned on PCs during the 2006 holiday shopping season as part of a campaign by Microsoft to maintain sales of Windows XP computers after the launch of Windows Vista was delayed.

At the same time, though, Pechman narrowed the basis on which plaintiffs could move forward with their claims.

For instance, she said that the plaintiffs could not pursue a class-action lawsuit on the basis that consumers had been deceived because "an individualized analysis is necessary to determine what role Microsoft's 'Windows Vista Capable' marketing program played in each class members' purchasing decision."

However, she said it was appropriate for plaintiffs to argue as a class that Microsoft had artificially inflated demand -- and prices -- for computers only capable of running Vista Home Basic by marketing them as "Windows Vista Capable."

Interesting. From as far back as the time I revealed Microsoft's strategy to bifurcate the market for Vista with far too many product editions, I've argued that this decision was a huge mistake. I still feel that way, though I question the frivolous nature of this lawsuit. It doesn't matter what happens here: We're stuck with multiple Vista versions regardless.

Discuss this Article 14

It is certainly true that many PCs that claim to be Vista Capable are barely capable of XP.
On the other hand, I find it deeply disturbing that Microsoft employees said they had personally been fooled by the Vista Capable logo - surely they must understand PC hardware and its capabilities?!

Dang lawyers will make all the money and the user will get squat, so let me defend MS.
Vista capable means it can run Vista, but we never said all versions. However, even though the most sophisticated version can run on practically all of said computers with a few 'enhancements' [upgrades of RAM, CPU and/or Video cards]. So quit friggin' belly aching! Learning to upgrade will also enhance your OS experience, so go buy a screw driver and some parts, and... your welcome for the lesson!
Do I get the job? We should win for sure, IMO.

"We're stuck with multiple Vista versions regardless."
Actually, I don't think we are "stuck" with multiple Vista versions. The Windows Update feature tied together with Anytime Upgrade for all users to Windows Vista Ultimate would bring all customer versions of Vista to the same base.
What we are stuck with is Vista being able to physically install on older machines or machines with sub-par video/memory infrastructure albeit with a sometimes significantly different end user experience.

Honestly, to a level, this whole situation is just a hideous mess in the respects that Microsoft does hold a level of responsibility in the respects that they've touted quite a bit of the Aero/MCE features of the Premium version and alot of people may not have initially understood that that was a separate edition than the one theirs was "capable" of.
Still, none the less, it's surprising how many computers were only "capable," I mean, doesn't that technically mean that these companies were throwing out, in a simple sense, pieces of garbage without even basic graphics cards? I still can't comprehend that, I mean, a cheap Vista-friendly card is probably 75 dollars at Best Buy, or even less for that matter. Ugh! This is where Apple has the upside I guess, controlling everything from top to bottom to make sure their software doesn't end up on a piece of garbage.

Agreed, there are way too many versions of Vista. It's confusing, limiting, artificial and unnecessary.
Microsoft marketing frustrates the heck out of me. Yeah I know it's all about trying to rake in the money as many ways as possible, but honestly, come on, Microsoft. There's an Apple ad that pokes fun at this. Apple sells just one version of OS X Leopard. There is no Leopard Lite, Leopard Premium, Small Business Leopard, Starter Edition Leopard, etc.
Look at Vista Ultimate. It's been marketed as the version of Vista that should have everything, but it doesn't. There's no volume license activation available for Ultimate, and the support isn't as long as their business versions of the product. Then you have Vista Enterprise and Business editions, which DO have volume license activation, extended support, but are missing some of the digital media/entertainment features such as Movie Maker or DVD Maker. Even XP Pro has Movie Maker.
I work in IT for a school district. We're a prime example of a client that needs the domain-support and volume license features available in Vista Business, Enterprise, etc, but we would also make use of the media features available in Vista Premium and Ultimate. Why is it so difficult to get one version of Vista that will actually do all these things? I could understand if it was to limit the spread of pirated copies of Vista or activation keys, but now apparently Microsoft's dumbed down(?) WGA in Vista SP1 so that their kill switch has been removed.
Some of the other school districts in our region have been so frustrated with the multiple product editions and other Vista frustrations that they've already decided to support only XP, skip Vista altogether, and are hopping--way too early--on the Win 7 bandwagon.

Honestly, it seems like they probably should have condensed it down to three versions: Home, Business, and Ultimate. Simple enough, right?
Home would basically be what we all know as Premium, featuring MCE, Aero, and all the other elements available in the current edition as we know it.
Business would basically feature everything in the current Business editions (one, two, I don't know).
Ultimate would be what Ultimate is now with some of the issues point to in the previous commenter included.
Overall, the question becomes if MS can really go through and change the product editions this late in the game or just haul through with a whole new branding effort with upgrade options for current owners. Who knows? This whole 'capable' thing will be interesting to watch, albeit continuing the tired "big mean monopoly" Microsoft vs. Puny Apple/Linux/other options.

Clindhartsen,
The "big mean monopoly" debate only continues because Microsoft continues to be a defacto monopoly in computer operating systems and uses that monopoly to RAISE prices and gouge consumers with tricks like these (and the MS points system). That's what companies that lack proper competition do. Notice how far the price of PCs has fallen while the average selling price of Windows has gone UP!
It's not really "evil". It's just the sad state of the PC marketplace regarding OS pricing and vendor marketing.
What was evil was how MS got to their position in the first place, but that's another matter.
ps: Sorry to troll on a non-Apple topic.
pss: Is it really a surprise to see these garbage machines ship without adequate graphics cards? They still have PS/2 and serial ports for the love of God. Most of these vendors are in a perpetual race to the bottom on razor-thin margins while MS has 40% operating margins even after all the money losing departments (everything else they do that isn't Office or Windows).

This still makes me wonder how much of the blame goes to the computer builders themselves. I would bet that many may have waited for Vista and sales would have declined during the period right before Vista's release. But Dell, HP and others sure could not tolerate that happening. The solution for their sales to continue? Vista capable. Then blame MS for basically being forced to create the help for these companies.
Lets face it, if you buy a cheapo computer, you should not expect superior performance. You get what you pay for, a computer that runs XP adequately, but only Vista basic. If you buy a better computer, you can run most versions of Vista. Again, if you buy a $300 computer, you should not expect much performance.

"There's no volume license activation available for Ultimate, and the support isn't as long as their business versions of the product."
First off, of course you know that Volume Licensing is only or upgrades right? There is no full product versions available in Volume Licensing, so the cheapest way to buy new full-version software is with a new PC.
Second, if you want added support terms for Vista Ultimate, get Software Assurance as an add-on. If you buy software preloaded on a PC, you can apply Software Assurance to those OEM editions - you don't have to have a Volume License to get Software Assurance. Software Assurance is available for Vista Ultimate in OEM flavours, but AFAIK you just can't buy Vista Ultimate in a Volume License.

"Again, if you buy a $300 computer, you should not expect much performance."
Seconded.
BTW: Here's a question for Mackies comparing the various versions of Windows Vista to the one version of Mac OSX: When have you seen a new Mac selling for $300 recently? How about ever?

You know I bought one of those machines, because I needed a PC. My exwife sold my machine and I was stuck buying something less than my usual masterpieces. But as luck would have it, I simply pulled out my PC upgrade/repair tools and got to work.
The Vista Capable P.O.S. I bought from Fry's was barely able to run Vista. Sempron processor, 512 Memory, onboard graphics, and very generic combo drive. I grabbed the motherboard user's manual provided and found a holy grail in my cheap PC. The ECS motherboard supported had many upgrade options. The board supported AMD Athlon 64x2 dualcore processors. The board supported up to 16 GB of memory. The PCI-E board could do all current and upcoming graphics cards. So I strolled down to Microcenter and went shopping.
64x2 Dualcore processor upgrade - $64.99.
Additional 512 MB DDR2 Memory - $29.99.
From Frys:
ATI Radeon 2600 Pro with 512 MB - $99.99.
Now factor in round 2 of upgrades.
From Walmart:
300 GB SATA Seagate Drive - $94.99
From Microsoft:
Ultimate Upgrade - $199.99
Total of Upgrades - $489.95
Tax at Dallas Rate 8.25% - $40.42
Total Cost - $530.37
Original Cost of PC with Tax - $270.61
Total PC cost with Upgrades - $800.98.
Now it runs Vista Ultimate Edition with virtually no problems. All it really needs now is an additional memory and monitor upgrade and I will have a beast on my hands.
Most importantly, its still less than what I would have spent on a Mac. The Vista Capable program is really a sham and Microsoft. MS and its partners should really compensate users for these less than stellar PC's. When I have to drop over 500 just to make it truely a Vista capable machine, it really shows how much they dropped the ball.

For anybody complaining about "being stung" by this, just remember that it's the fault of manufacturers and the sales clerks you dealt with. Microsoft made TONS of marketing literature available for partners, resellers, and manufacturers many months before the original Vista Capable program came to fruition.
Oh and on another note:
this sticker: http://tinyurl.com/2qg4l2
does NOT equal this sticker: http://tinyurl.com/2p3333
they would typically be put side-by-side like this on a system though (that's what Microsoft partner marketing resources had outlined in the documentation): http://tinyurl.com/2o5lor